Lost
by yoonsu
Summary: Lost, confused, cold, no memory. And now these wolves are following for no apparent reason...at least none they're willing to tell her...yet. Future ChezaKiba from the POV of OC. DISCONTINUED.
1. Chapter 1

_Hello! This is the first story I've submitted here. I hope you enjoy it. A few things I would like to mention first before I do. This is an OC story and the whole thing will be from her point of view with a few interludes maybe from some other characters. There probably will be no romance and if there is, there won't be a lot trust me. This story was written for the sole purpose of description (how I did on that one, you'll have to tell me!), I may have some messy grammar and punctuation, so expect editing for that, I would love help with that as well, so if you see some mistakes tell me!!! There will be dialogue and the quotation marks and other punctuation might be botched up, I don't like dialogue very much, but it will be there!!! How else would I improve, ne? So without further ado, enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: All characters (except my OC) belong to Wolf's Rain_

**Chapter I**

Lost, barren land everywhere, very much lost. And cold, so cold it hurts and numbs at the same time. But…cold, is refreshing. I like the cold don't I. So then…I shouldn't be complaining about it. Right? But…lost…in blinding snow. Some trees here and there. Now that could potentially be a problem. Lost is never really good. Getting up hurts, my limbs were resting in the most awkward of positions. Like a bird that just fell out of the sky. They are sore and sharp pains spasm through my legs. It is hard to stand. I finally look around. At first it seems there is nothing but endless white, a canvas waiting for color. Then…trees, at first a few and then more and more. A forest. I start heading towards it. At this point it doesn't matter where I'm headed…eventually I'll find something. And it seems as though I always manage to find things in the woods. Previous camping trips are proof of that. Besides, if you don't know where you are, then you don't know where you're goin'. Makes sense, especially now.

Night is coming. It's much colder now. I can feel my legs freezing up. My fingers too, I've always had a problem with my fingers and at this point I cannot move them at all. But, I will freeze to death if I stop moving all together, so I keep walking into the dark night. A waning moon high above my head gives me all the light I'll ever need, even in the forest. Thank god there is snow everywhere, it makes everything less dark. Everything is bathed in pale silver light. The light of the moon, I fear how dark it will be when the new moon arrives. Then I will be forced to stop, if I don't find some shelter by then. I am most certain I will not live to see the next morn, unless by a miracle.

It is the fourth morning, since I have found myself lost. Everything seems cheerful enough. But it is so quiet. That is what I have found strange. There is almost no noise, with the exception of the crunching snow beneath my furry boots, and the sound of my sling backpack softly thumping against my hip with each step. No noise. Perhaps it is so cold that no sensible animal would be out in the big freeze. Then why am I in it? Have I become so numb that I can no longer feel how cold it is? Maybe…and that worries me. There is a danger of frost bite, even though everything that needs to be covered is. Then I hear it. The first sound in almost four days, the sound of feet on snow, it is ahead of me. I look up. There are four of them. Perhaps one hundred feet away from where I stand, wolves, I am no stranger to these majestic creatures I have seen them many times before. However, my actual contact with them was and is limited. I walk closer and they tense up. I refuse to move for them though. It would be a waste of my time to move around them. I feel as though I should keep going in the direction I am moving. My gut tells me I will find something soon, and it has not been wrong before. I refuse to get out of the way for some wolves. And it is they who move away a little, still observing me. I begin to pass them by.

There is about thirty feet distance between us, I turn to face them. It is my turn to fully observe them now. They are quite the ragtag pack. A steely grey one with a cross shaped scar on its chest seems to glare at me. I am too close for him it seems. He bares his teeth at me. Not very friendly is he? A scruffy red looking one stands next to him, head cocked to one side, curious, and by the looks of it a pup: skinny and leggy. A silver bangle is on his front right leg. I wonder how it got there. Next a hefty looking tan one. He seems to be the friendliest, but he is tense too. And despite looking hefty, tense muscles ripple once in a while along his neck and down his back. There is a collar around his neck, with a silver tag. Something is engraved in it, though I'm not too sure what. And finally the leader of the pack, a beautiful white wolf, he seems to be the calmest of them all. Calculating and detached, he stands proud and tall, he seems relaxed. But strong muscles bunch around his shoulders and legs, waiting to attack first if anything should go awry. They are all beautiful in their own way. Each has their character and I cannot help but want to permanently keep the image should I ever forget.

My hand drops to the flap of my bag and I open it. The sound of ripping velcro seems to fill the entire forest for about a quarter of a second. And the grey one raises his hackles. Growling ferociously, my hand reaches into my pack, and he looks ready to jump. I withdraw my sketchpad and his hackles stop. His teeth are still bared, but he seems confused. The pup then cocks his head to the other side and seems to relax a little. The grey one snaps his teeth at him, and quickly turns to face me again. The collared one seems to relax a little too, but not so much as to sit down as the pup had done. The leader had not moved a muscle, a perfect model. I put my hand in my bag again, there is a low rumble of a warning growl coming from behind the grey one's teeth. I back up a little, I am a little anxious of that one, and I withdraw a pencil. I begin to sketch, I cannot feel what I am doing, my hands are too frozen. I count on my eyes, and compare what I am drawing to what is in front of me.

I am done. It is only a rough sketch that I will complete later, but the basic image is done and I am proud that it came out decently considering the state of my hands. They are as pale as the snow all around, and the paper in my hand. Not good. There is no blood flowing. Not a lot at least. I put my materials away. I stand up from my position on my haunches and my gloves go back on my hands. My knees give a sharp crack that echoes as I get up. They still observe. I make a short bow to them thanking them for their time, just as I would do with any other model. And in a rusty unused voice I scratched out "If I had a hat, I would tip it to you". I make a final bow and continue on. Passing them by, they do not attack. I feel I am lucky.

And my lucky streak continues. After what seems to be two hours or so I reach some ruins. The ruins of some worse off city that has been abandoned, which is good, because I think a storm is coming, now I can only hope that there is a room with four walls and a roof somewhere amongst the wreckage. I keep walking through. I trip a couple times and then I reach what seems to be a partially whole building. At least it has the potential of having a room. It looks like an old apartment building. With a few holes in its sides and shattered windows, I walk towards the door with caution. It would not do to have something fall upon me. The door is jammed however. I try kicking it and it does not budge. I place my backpack down and back up. I run at the door and fall heavily into it. It cracks then gives. I fall down with it stunned. After gathering my senses I grab my pack and walk cautiously inside. Everything is falling apart, and for the most part it is empty with the few odd pieces of furniture. I cannot believe how lucky I am. I slowly climb up the stairs. My objective is to get onto the roof. I can get a better vantage point there and see where I am…and how close the nearest settlement is.

I make it to the top. I look around. The city itself is quite large even if it is ruined. There may be a map around, I'll have to check for that later. Past the city there is more blank white, then jagged pieces of ice erupt on the backdrop of grey-blue. The ocean perhaps, I turn to look where I came from. There is nothing but forest that seems to go on for miles. Then something catches my eye. The four are walking out of the forest. The apartment that I stand on is very tall, but not too far away from the woods. I can see each one fairly clearly. Did they follow me? I do not think they are hunting me though. They may be looking for a place to evade the storm. I look up.

The clouds are becoming whiter. Snow is coming. But the wind is angry, it will be a blizzard. A really cold one, I need a fire. I have a half filled matchbox with me and a lighter, along with some other odds and ends including my sketchbook, pencils, and a sharpener. I look back down to where the wolves were. They are gone. I go back down the stairs and search the rooms. Most are bare. Mattresses are torn, wallpaper is peeling. There are random books in some rooms. I gather six altogether. There are no blankets, just torn shreds of what used to be. I look around the rooms. And I come upon something unexpected. A piano, in a room with no windows, the wind will not howl at me tonight, I will be safe from it. There is a fireplace in the same room. I seriously cannot believe my luck now. I can have a fire. And I can finally sleep. Not to say that I hadn't slept at all. There were the odd moments throughout the day that lasted ten or twenty minutes. I was too afraid to sleep any longer than that out there. Here I can sleep for at least a day. As long as there were intervals to make sure the fire did not go out.

I gathered as much ruined timber as I could. Ripping them apart from pieces of already ruined furniture, I make a pile of it. The bibles I use as a starter, the furniture would make the actual fire. Once the fire grows I will dry out my jacket, and the rest of my outer wear. It grows nicely, it will take a while for the whole room to be warm, but it is a pleasant feeling. I take off my thin black leather gloves and leave them in front of the fire to dry, then I stick my hands above the flames. The feeling is welcome, my hands are thawing, and it feels like ice is melting off my hands. As soon as the thawing stops the pain of blood rushing back and nerves regaining their ability will set in, after that…motion. My fingers will be able to move again. And they do…I am glad. Looking at the piano, I wonder how much I remember, I should remember something. I have played the piano for over nine years and still do when I can. And recently I miss the feel of smooth keys under my fingers, but warming up must come first. Then food, I have not eaten in three days. The last thing I ate was a sandwich I had fortunately found in my pack. Water would not be a big problem, as long as I have water I can live without food.

Dehydration would be bad. The cold makes it seem as though you don't need water, but your body does. More often then not though, people realize this too late. I could melt snow over a pot…if I find one. Warming comes first, and it is now warm enough for me to take off my hat and scarf. I place them next to my gloves. The hat is made of heavy smooth black wool. And the scarf brings back memories of a home I can't completely remember. My hand roves over the stitches…homemade. I think my mother made it. My memory is fuzzy, but I know it's there. It is as if I cannot reach it, perhaps one day it will all come back to me. I remove my jacket. A black pea-coat covered in zippers and pockets, and lined with plush. Warm, but not nearly enough to keep a lot of heat in this temperature. I am left kneeling in a thin white sweater, whose sleeves are way too long and a pair of patched up jeans and fuzzy tan boots with really thick soles that add three inches to my height.

The warmth makes me feel fuzzy. It is not a lot of warmth, but it is enough, and I have not had proper sleep in four days. I try to stay awake, but my lids feel heavy and even the dingy, dusty floor looks comfortable enough to lie on. Sleep conquers all. My senses give in to the warm fuzzy feeling and I am left to wander in memories I cannot recall, I barely notice the scuffling sound coming from outside the doorway. I do not care anymore. Sleep conquers all.


	2. Chapter 2

_Please R&R...I know the first chapter prologue thing was tedious but...there had to be some kinda intro. ne? Anywho...yes this will be ChezaKiba once the story moves along...most of the story is gonna be descriptive...and I'm not really a writer sooo...yeah I dunno just hope you enjoy..._

**Chapter II**

I don't know how long I slept, all I know is that it felt good. As the hazy cloud of sleep evaporates from my mind it occurs to me that there is a shuffling sound coming from somewhere in front of me. Then there is also the sound of feet padding around as well as some snuffling. Eventually the sound comes a little too close for comfort and I am forced to open my eyes. I know they must look glazed over because everything I see is blurry. I blink once, twice, and then vision comes back to me. What I see area pair of champaign colored eyes staring at me. Wolf eyes. As soon as that registers, I freak out. I jump up as quickly as possible from my position on the floor with gasping breathes. I can tell I startled them too, especially the red pup, whose eyes I was staring into only seconds before. He backed away from me with his tail between his legs. The grey one, who was once staring out the door, instantly turned around hackles raised. The collared one jumped and backed away from my backpack. The white one, who had been laying down across the room adjacently to me brought his head up quickly, assessing the situation.

I back away from them as best I can, and manage to fall over and land hard on my ass. I shuffle back against the wall, and stare, breathing hard, choking and gulping on air trying to steady my breath. Waking up with a pair of eyes that close to you is very startling, especially when you knew you were alone before you went to sleep. Scary, unexpected, and rather unwanted, I wonder what they want with me. It is now obvious I am not being hunted otherwise they would have already killed me. But being killed was still an option. I can tell by the way the grey one keeps baring his fangs at me as soon as I make any fidgety movement.

I curled up into a small ball against the wall. I wasn't scared before, probably because of the gap between us. Now the gap is closed, the farthest wolf being just across the room. And the closest…five feet away at least, needless to say, that is not a safe distance. Not for me at least. The beginnings of calm spread through me and I try my hardest not to make any sudden movements, and now it is just staring. They stare at me and I stare at them. I have no idea how long this lasted for, but it seemed as though minutes are just slowly crawling by. The pup with the bangle gets up. I tense, waiting to see what will happen. Tail still between his legs and belly close to the floor he crawls to me. I have seen this position before. He is being submissive…to me...perhaps, asking for forgiveness?

Where he stops I can touch him without having to stretch my arm very far. He looks up at me, ears back in a complacent manner. I finally reach out slowly, when I am within an inch of touching him I pull back. I am still scared. He whines and crawls closer. I then cautiously place my hand on his head and he pushes upwards, nudging me, encouraging me. I smile a little at that. He is cute…I stop that line of thought as soon as it comes. It is never good to think that way. He is still a wild animal and would follow his instincts at heart. He would kill me if he had to. And thinking of him as cute or like a pet would get me killed. I can not forget that. At this my smile must have faltered because the pup whines again and has the gall to curl up next to me, head in my lap.

The scarred one doesn't seem to like this very much. His hackles rise once again and growls. This does not get much of a reaction…at least not from the pup. I on the other hand tense up. Pup must've felt this because he glances up at me, lifting his head and growls back in a grumbling fashion at the scarred wolf and then rests his head in my lap again. The grey one takes several menacing steps before white jaws clasp warningly around his neck. The white wolf has stopped him. I wonder why… I glance momentarily at the tubby wolf, who seems to be observing the whole ordeal with amusement, as his tail thumps against the floor in a slow rhythmic pattern. I then relax. Sleep was calling to me again. I slowly lay next to the red pup with my head burying into his fur. It is soft, warm, and smelled of the cold air and pine trees along with something I can't name. I murmur a contented "mmmm…" against his fur and croak out "sweet fur…warm…soft…" and I once again drift away where nothing matters.

The next time I awake it is to voices. Arguing to some extent, while another voice interrupts here and there with amusement, there is another voice and it was coming from above me and under me somewhat. I don't want to open my eyes, but the voices are getting clearer. I decided I could chance it. I open my eyes. Everything is blurry but I clearly hear a voice state "Hey! Look guys, she's waking up."

The thing under me moves a little and it is then everything snaps into focus. The wolves are gone, instead there are now three men in the room. I furrow my brow in confusion. I didn't want or need any trouble and this could potentially cause just that. I stay were I am, too comfortable to move, and ask "who are you people?"

One man with shaggy brown hair just stares calmly and indifferently at me, cold blue eyes assessing me. The man next to him decked all in leather just scoffs at me and mutters something under his breathe about 'stupid humans'. The third man then runs directly into my line of vision with a large happy grin on his face.

"Don't mind Tsume, he's just being his usual jerky self." The white haired man snorts indignantly…there is something familiar about the three of them…I cannot place it though.

"As for who we are," he continues "my name's Hige, as you now know jerkface over there is Tsume, that's Kiba," he points to the man with cool blue eyes and shaggy hair, "and the kid you're layin' on is Toboe". It takes me a while to register everything he said, not that he said too much, but he said it so fast. I would've choked…but then again I choke when I say two or three words. My voice is quite unused. The last part finally registers completely. 'The kid you're layin' on…', I was? I move a little, it would make sense…whatever I _was_ laying on was warm. I look up, a face with a small smile and wide eyes framed with shaggy rust colored hair looks down upon me. Tentatively he says "Hello…?"

I probably wouldn't have minded too much. Except I am more than certain I fell asleep on a young wolf, not a person. I move fast. I am against the wall again in shock, I think I managed to hurt myself this time. I hear the thump and crack of my head smacking the wall. I moved too fast. The boy…Toboe is up on his feet in an instant coming closer to me, hands up in placating manner.

"Are you okay?" He dares to take a step closer and I slide against the wall further away from him. The one called Hige then takes a step closer to me, "calm down, we're not gonna' hurt you". They both come closer, I cannot help the scream that rips through my throat. It is short lived however, as a hand claps over my mouth and deep rough voice exclaims, "Shut up! Don't draw attention to us! We're not gonna' hurt you…yet", he whispers the last word menacingly. He means it, I did not even have time to see him hurtle across the room. I feel trapped. The one wearing leather…Tsume, holds his hand roughly against my mouth, the other behind my head so I cannot move it. Hige moves closer to me, and Toboe observes all this with a look of worry, still coming closer.

I begin to hyperventilate. It was the start of my panic. Perhaps it was unreasonable. But. Well…fuck reason, I just woke up and now I'm being cornered like a wild animal by men that appeared from nowhere! A sharp voice cuts through my small sounds of rising panic.

"Let her go. She can't run anywhere even if she tried. You might as well let her go. Besides _we_ are the ones intruding upon her. And if she does try anything…," he trails off leaving the rest to the imagination.

Tsume lets go with and angry grunt and glares at me. I focus on breathing. I do not want to get too dizzy from lack of air. Hige backs away a little and then sits down observing me.

Toboe steps closer however and asks "Are you okay?" I can only nod my head in response. Everything is happening so fast, I am disorientated. When I finally gather my thoughts I ask, "Why are you here?"

The one named Kiba answers coolly "To evade the storm." He says it so simply, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. He is only telling half-truths though. I can feel it. I've told more than my fair share of them. He was telling the truth, but leaving a lot of information out I suspected. My questions would have to be more specific.

"Why are you here in this particular room with me, there are many other rooms in which you could evade the storm in?" my voice is getting less scratchy as I use it more and more, although it is still not the most pleasant thing to listen to.

"Yes, there are other rooms, but this one has more heat," he looks momentarily at the fire and then his eyes flicker back to my face…he is avoiding something. That is what my gut is telling me. It hasn't been wrong before…might as well give it a shot.

"That's not all is it?" His eyes gaze steadily into mine.

"No, it's not."

"Can I ask what else then?"

"Of course you can, you just have…" he trails off. He does not want to talk about it anymore. I think it bothers him, even though he gives no outward sign of discomfort.

And now for the question that has been plaguing my mind, "Where are the wolves? Did they leave?"

Tsume snorts, "You really _don't_ know anything do you."

I am confused. I turn my head towards him, "What do you mean I 'don't know anything'?" As soon as he is about to answer Kiba cuts him off, "What she doesn't know won't hurt her…or us," he seems to add as an afterthought. My attention so far has been so focused on these two that I did not notice Toboe as he sidled up beside me. He pulled on my sleeve. I jumped a little and turned toward him, this time determined to stand my ground.

"It's okay miss, really, we're not going to hurt you. After this blizzard's over you may never see us again," as he said this he seemed rather sad however, as though he had known me for longer than the twenty minutes we spent in a room together…with me being conscious, at his statement though Kiba looked at him sharply, as though he wished to contradict that statement.

Then a louder, more jovial voice joined into the conversation, "Hey! Wait a sec' here. We told you all of our names. It would be nice to know what yours is."

I blushed from embarrassment, I had completely ignored common courtesy, they had given me their names and at the time I refuse to give mine.

"Aya, you may call me Aya," I whispered. Hige seemed pleased that he managed to ferret my name from me. He walked until he stood right in front of me, he then put his arm out. I pulled up my sleeve a little bit and we shook hands.

"A pleasure to meet you Aya! Now, here's a question. Would you happen to have any food on you…?"

At that Tusme barked out a rather violent, "Idiot! Is that all you think about? Food? Besides, you already went through all her stuff by hand and nose, she doesn't have anything. You said so yourself!"

By nose? I wonder what he means by that. Surely he cannot smell the food, especially not if it is frozen. Another voice cuts off from next to me, "Why do you bother asking, you can smell food from miles away if you're that hungry…"

I glanced at Toboe, he still had a vague hold on my left sleeve, though the statement seemed innocent enough, there was a malicious teasing tone to his voice. Alas, the topic was getting way off tangent here. What happened to the wolves? No one answered my question, so I decided I would cut into their banter.

"No one told me about the wolves. Did they leave or what?"

Silence reigned for a few moments. I liked it. Strange. I had been outside for four days with not a sound. Now that I was in the middle of conversations I wanted out again. I soaked in the silence, even if it was uneasy on their part. Then in a soft voice that sounded as though he shouldn't be answering that question, Toboe answered.

"They never left."

"You mean…they're still in the building?"

"Not only just in the building."

I am confused again. I swept my eyes around the room, no wolves here. I do not understand. My brows furrow in confusion.

"Have you never heard of the stories?" a scathing voice asked me. I looked at Tsume,

"What stories?"

"You really are stupid. Look around you. See any similarities to those wolves you saw?" he said with a sneer. Kiba gave him a warning glace. They all seemed a little tense now. As though perhaps they were rethinking telling me such an answer, they were waiting for my reaction.

I glanced at each of them now. First Kiba, nothing seemed similar about him at all. Maybe the indifferent attitude, but…anyone can have an indifferent attitude. I look at the others and shock sets in. Tsume has a cross shaped scar on his chest. How did I not notice that before? The grey wolf had the same scar. A coincidence I hope. Then Hige, nothing familiar here…except the engraved collar. Things are getting weird. I sucked in a breath to stabilize the growing panic that once again began to blossom from my chest. Finally Toboe, our eyes lock, and then I scan his outward appearance. Those bracelets. The same ones the wolf pup wore. I feel my eyes widen, impossible.

I try to remove my sleeve gently from Toboe's grip. Instead his grip tightens. He whispers softly, "Do you understand now?"

I nod my head. But I do not want to understand. I try to back away. The grip now moves to my wrist. It is not very tight yet, but I suspect it will be if I attempt to thrash. Understanding grips my heart in cold steel, making the steady rhythm stop. Instead of blood dripping from my heart dread does, slowly dripping into the rest of my limbs. I manage to gasp out in a trembling voice, "S-so, you're th-the wolves?"

They all nod solemnly, I lock eyes with Kiba. He seems to be observing me the most intently, I do not want to panic. I do not hyperventilate this time. No, this time my breath stops almost altogether and I feel as though I cannot move. Fear has frozen me. I do not know if I believe them. My gut tells me they are not lying though. And my gut has never been wrong before.


	3. Chapter 3

_Okay...here's chapter three...and now our plot actually begins (somewhat...), hope you enjoy, um...this story may be on hiatus for a bit...I have to finish chapter four (it's almost done) but so far my inspiration for this story is...blah. I'll start writing again when an idea hits me...I know which direction I want this story to go...but whether or not I can put it on paper is a different story...so, hope you enjoy this chapter._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wolf's Rain..._

**Chapter III**

The world seems to spin now, it was the shock. It had to be. I am breaking down. This revelation is the straw that broke the camels back. I can handle being alone in the middle of nowhere, but wolves that turn into people. It was too surreal, it belongs in storybooks not in reality. Perhaps that is why I can handle being lost. It was a real situation, that had real solutions, this situation though, I can not think of any solutions or ways of coping with this. My knees give out. Toboe grabs me and holds me close to him in a kind of hug. I do not care. I want to shut down. I want to believe this is a dream, or a very well made hoax. Being told this was intense. But not nearly as intense as when they proved the point. In a flash there were wolves instead of people and just as fast they were back. And that was enough to put me in my current state.

I wasn't paying attention to what the voices were saying anymore. There is arguing in the background, and a more gentle voice murmuring sweet, consoling things in my ear. I hear the sounds, I don't know what they are saying though. I allow darkness to enter my vision, but I am still conscious. I am placed on the floor. I wait for several minutes, probably not that long, I was never a patient person, and I wanted to open my eyes, I did. The room is empty. I think it is time to question my sanity.

My fire is getting smaller, I place more broken furniture in. It has gotten colder again. I wrap my now dry scarf about my neck. It is long enough so that I can wrap it about my mouth and nose, I do so. My jacket comes on next, then I stand. I do not know what to do with myself right now. I look about the worn out room. My gaze falls on the piano. I can practice, there is no one to hear me if I mess up. I pull out the piano bench farther. It squeaks and groans as soon as I put my weight on it. What shall I start with? Mozart. My teacher made sure that it was ingrained into my memory. So much so that it feels as though my brain doesn't have to think, just my fingers, remembering the feel of keys. I start with something happy, Sonata No. 16…C major? The rondo allegretto, pretty, I am surprised I remember it. I move on, more Mozart, Sonata No.5 in G major, the allegro. I do not remember the whole thing though. I move on to my favorite composer. Chopin. This I remember well. I love is so, fast slow, loud quiet, notes flowing and swimming into each other without ever blurring. They ring clear, and finally I am happy. Even when I am playing the funeral march, it is still beautiful. Then his Rondo in C major…my favorite, I remember it.

There is a dull slapping sound, like shoes against a floor. I don't pay much attention. My attention is solely focused on trying to get my fingers to remember the exact rhythm. I haven't played in so long, it is actually fun. I stop playing, my fingers are getting stiff, the cold is finally taking its toll, and they hurt and are difficult to move. I turn to look at the fire and let out a small gasp. Before me is the proof that none of what had conspired was a dream, it was real. And in front of me now was my unintentional audience. Once again we stared at each other. Toboe nervously breaks the ice, "That was really good, it was pretty…what was it?"

"Mozart, Chopin…and thank you," I answer, slowly I feel the beginnings of a smile crawl on my face. I do not know why I am smiling. It seems to be the right response, Toboe's nervousness vanishes and Hige joins in noticing my better mood. "Yeah, it sounded really nice. What's that thing called anyways?"

I gave him a wide eyed stare, he didn't know what a piano was. "It's a musical instrument, called a…piano. It makes sounds by hitting the strings inside with a hammer that moves when you touch the keys," I look at them all, they all seem to absorb the information but have slightly puzzled looks. Even though I am very wary of them it is time to try and make peace.

"Here, I'll show you." I walk towards the piano, Hige and Toboe follow until they are standing on either side of me…fairly close, though they do so tentatively. Trust is being formed but it will take a while. All good things take time…someone told me that when I was younger, maybe my mother, I think it was…I remember her blonde hair as she says this.

I move the top so it reveals the inside. The move to peer inside, "Wait." They stop advancing. I place my hands inside and remove the small latches on either side. I remove the front panel. Before them stands most of the mechanism. They gasp and murmur their 'wows'. I feel some more movement. To my far right Kiba stands looking both blank and suspicious at the same time. I wonder how he manages that. He too is curious and wants to see what is so special, I hear a movement from behind, I bet Tsume moved to see too, but he does not come forward.

I mumble "Excuse me," and once again I sit on the bench. "Watch the hammers, as a key is pressed down it hits the string releasing a sound." I show them with one key. Hige presses down on another key and a grin spreads on his face, "Neat, ya' learn somethin' new everyday," he beams at me. Toboe presses another key, he appears to be in awe. Then the noise of random keys blur out in protest and were quickly released. Kiba has a look of surprise on his face from the momentary loud noise. I dare to giggle softly and he glances at me.

"If you press random keys, they mostly just make noise. But when the right keys are placed together you can get a harmonious sound," I play a chord to prove my point. I look back at him, he is still staring at me. I once again play Chopin's rondo, I stop after the first couple measures. They are staring at the hammers and strings again. I cannot help but giggle, they stare at me. I smile meekly and look down "You remind of little children, staring like that."

I get up and walk over to the fire, I place on my gloves and hat. I need to see how the weather outside is. Has the storm passed? I make towards the doorway and find myself being followed, Kiba. I momentarily stare at him. But I have nothing to say. I keep going towards the roof, he keeps following. On the roof the storm still goes on, I feel as though I will be blown off the roof, I look up. Nothing but white, I turn. Some dull grey-blue sky is showing in the distance. It will be over soon. I quickly run inside after assessing that. I don't want to get really wet. Kiba stays on the roof.

I re-enter the room. I find myself tired again. I can do nothing but sleep it seems. I sit on the wall next to the fire. I glance at the rooms occupants. Tsume leans against the wall eyes closed. Hige and Toboe are still crowded around the piano. I figure I can sleep until the rest of the storm vanishes. Then I will be sleeping once again for those short ten-twenty minutes. I curl into a ball, and know no more. I don't think I slept for very long, but I hear a soft voice in my ear and a hand gently pushing my shoulder, "please wake up miss, please, we're leaving."

I open my eyes and images swim into focus. Toboe stands in front of me, "we're leaving now Miss Aya." I blearily peer up at him nod my head and get up. The fire is almost completely out now. I grab my bright green sling pack and head for the door. As soon as I'm outside I see the rest of the assembly. Toboe runs ahead from behind me and once again they are all watching me. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to say goodbye to them. I raise my arm and wave my hand in a friendly manner.

"It was nice meeting you all. Bye!" And I face the rest of the city. Something tells me I have to go through the city and keep going in that direction. And once again I start my endless trek. Only this time my footsteps are not alone. They are following me. I wonder why. They have no reason too, I stop walking, they come closer. At several feet away they stop walking as well. They look expectantly at me. Finally Tsume says in a gruff voice, "well? Lead us to her _flower girl_." He spits the last two words out like poison and glowers at Kiba before glaring at me again. And not for the first time, I am confused.

"Flower girl? I have nothing to do with flowers. And as far as I'm concerned, no flower can live in this temperature. So…flower girl?"

Kiba answers but it doesn't help too much, "You smell like lunar flowers. You lead the way."

My mind is reeling, I lead the way? Lead the way to where? I don't even know where I'm going, how can I lead anybody anywhere? My confusion must have shown on my face.

"We'll make a deal," Kiba says hesitantly, he does not trust me very much, he is forcing himself, "we…get to follow you, to where-ever you're headed and we'll...help you get there?" he didn't seem too sure about the last part. And this whole 'deal' seems rather vague. How could they possible help me…for food perhaps? That could work, although why they would want to follow someone who is completely lost is beyond me, lunar flowers or no.

"Okay, I don't know what you're gonna' gain from following a lost person, but be my guest." I turn and start walking away. I don't hear footsteps and then, "Hey! Wait a sec! You mean you really don't mind if we come with you?" Hige is by my side now, the rest follow.

"No, it makes no difference to me."

"Oh." he seems to deflate.

"But…it's…nice, to have a little company." and he perks up again.

"You mean it?"

"Yes." My personal space is now invaded, I am trapped in a bone crushing hug and twirled around like a rag-doll.

He yells out "Ya' hear that! She likes my company!"

"I don't know how much longer she's gonna' like it, she's turning blue and it's not from the cold." Toboe teases him…although, he is telling the truth. I cannot breathe very well. I awkwardly pat Hige on the back and he looks down at me. "Oh" he says and lets go of me. I momentarily gasp. He looks at me hesitantly. I am not too sure what to do. I suppose the best policy for now is…forgive and forget.

Shyly I step up to him and wrap my arms gently around him and let go in a second. I smile uncertainly at him, "It's okay…um…friends?" I am not too certain I really want to be their friends and two of them don't seem to want me as one either. This didn't seem to faze Hige though.

"All right!" he shook my outstretched hand vigorously with a giant smile that threatened to take over his face…I can't help it. I laugh and smile along with him. It's addicting. And the world seems to spin once more as Hige and I twirl and laugh.


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm so happy that some people actually think this story is decent!!! I hope I didn't make Aya seem like a Mary-Sue the last chapter with the whole piano thing...truthfully though that's the only thing she's good at (as mentioned in this chapter). Personally I'm not too pleased with the end of this chapter...it was too forced, and I think because of it I may have lost some of the narrative style at the end. Chapter five will not be coming up as fast for this...I have no inspiration for this story anymore, and who knows when I'll get it back...plus I have a shit-load of work for school, so I'll be focusing more on that than this (although it does help my grammar...) so please enjoy this chapter, and tell me what you think please!!!_

**Chapter IV**

Endless walking upon endless white, the great expanse before us seems to be limitless. After walking for a good two days straight I am tired. But I feel as though I am getting closer to some destination. The same gut feeling I had back in the woods. I haven't slept much and when I have, I curled up with Toboe much to Hige's chagrin. Toboe pokes fun at him for it. According to Toboe and an affirmative grunt from Tsume (Kiba vaguely nodded too…he seemed amused) Hige's main affections in life are food and women, that's why he would love to be the one to curl next to me. Personally I don't think there is anything great about me, who would want to be near me? I don't mean that in low self-esteem it's just that… if I was in a crowd I would be the last person someone might want to talk to. I'm fine with that though. I like being invisible. Attention is nice, but too much makes me nervous in a bad way.

Toboe seems to be the kind of person who is nice to everyone because he thinks everyone has some good in them, he cares for everyone's well being. Hige seems nice enough. I begin to wonder though if he only associates himself with me because I'm female. Tsume doesn't hesitate to show visible dislike for me. I don't mind, at least it's obvious. I don't like him too much either, too intimidating. And then there's Kiba. He doesn't talk to me at all if he can help it. He seems to avoid me, but there are times were he also seems overly protective, from what he deems are possible threats. A day ago we came across a broken tank. A sound like a gunshot was heard and he whisked me away so fast I was dizzy and he covered me as though he expected a bomb to fall. The injured man was killed without a second thought. Carnage and blood was fine, I was actually used to seeing such things because now a days, soldiers will do that to their own people.

But I had never seen a wolf rip out a mans throat like that, I was quickly sick on the ground, heaving stomach acid and spittle, it was a painful reminder that my stomach was empty and I was getting very hungry, Kiba hesitantly rubbed my back in a soothing circle, but he didn't glance at me once. Afterwards he became distant again. If you don't care for someone, why protect them? Pointless really.

The walking pace I set appears to aggravate the wolves, they want to move faster. I can't help it and I refuse to be carried. I have become more jittery…we are getting close. I can not help it anymore. I begin to run. I hear indignant cries of shock from Hige and Tsume while Toboe tells me to wait. I know that they can go much faster than me though. I am not worried. And then a city looks as though it erupted from the ground. The snow is thinning. There is not much on the city. And better yet. There are people there. The others catch up to me.

"What's with the stupid smile?" Tsume asks. I just point ahead and the three of them finally register the fact that a city is before them. Kiba has already started walking towards it. I quickly follow. We have walked straight into the city for a good fifteen minutes before I stop. Kiba notices first and turns back towards me, eyebrow raised. I smile and laugh sheepishly, rubbing my arm absent-mindedly.

"Well…there are people here so I guess I'll be staying. This…is goodbye then."

For a moment Kiba looks panicked, as though he was afraid I would say something like that. He doesn't want me to…leave?

Hige groans, "Why don't you stay with us a little longer?" Toboe joins in, "Please?"

"I'm not sure…you don't need me anymore now do you? You just needed me to take you here…how in the hell you knew I would lead you to a city is beyond me…but now we have our own agendas."

"No" Kiba spits out in a harsh voice. He stares solemnly at me. "You can't leave yet, we still need you."

"What the hell for?!" I cry indignantly. I was finally in a city and they still wanted me to lead them into the middle of nowhere? How does that make sense?

"Like I said, we need you…to…show us the way…"

"The way to what?" he didn't answer.

"Look I'm not going anywhere until you can fully explain yourself. The entire trip here was fine and dandy, but now that I'm here I don't need to leave. The entire time you've been avoiding my questio-"

"I answered them."

"But not completely! And yet you still want me to come with you."

"Yes." he said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm not going to go with a bunch of strangers who want me to lead them to some place I don't even know of!" I shouted at them waving my hands in the air. When I'm upset I use a lot of hand motions to convey that.

"But we're not strangers anymore…right?" Toboe asks looking hurt at being considered a stranger.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't go with you."

"Why the hell not?!" Tsume finally spits out. He turns on me, "we haven't done anything to hurt you! Hell! We even _protected_ you a couple times. I told you she'd be ungrateful Kiba. Like all humans, even if she does smell like your precious Cheza."

"Leave Cheza out of this Tsume," Kiba warns him calmly, he is still staring at me.

"Cheza's a part of the problem! The only reason you let _her_ take us anywhere is because of what a legend says and her scent! Her finding this city was just pure dumb luck!"

"No. It's not. She knew where she was going. Not the name…but she knew she would find something. Didn't you?"

I just gape at him. How did he know about my gut feeling? And…who is…was…Cheza? My mind is spinning, I'm getting light-headed. I think it's time I eat something. I haven't eaten in six days and it's finally showing. I turn to the left and continue walking. Indignant shouts come from behind me and a hand firmly grabs my arm. I turn around. I am way too close to Kiba.

"I'll…explain. Just come with us. We need you…._please_." It isn't a question. It is a demand, he sounds like the word please is cutting his throat. I don't think I have a choice in the matter. I slump a little and relax, I finally show how tired I really am.

I think he sees this, his grip loosens.

"Fine, but first we find a place to stay, and then food. Afterwards you _will_ explain everything to me. Try not to leave anything out. And I'll see what I can do to help you."

"Thank you," and with that he manages to fling me somewhat into the air and catch me on his back, I cling to him afraid to fall.

"What are you doing?" I hiss, and he just replies as though this wasn't unusual for him, "You're tired, we'll help you find shelter. You can just sleep. Leave the rest to us."

After a few tense moments I force myself to relax, I rest my head on his shoulder and murmur a tired "thank you" into his ear.

The next time I wake up I find myself in some sort of hotel room. It looks abandoned it's not very clean but it is warmer than outside. The smell of hotdogs wafts in and the door is slammed shut.

"Hey! Nice to see you up sleeping beauty, and look, we come bearing food!" Indeed they do. Hige is carrying warm hotdog links in a newspaper, and Toboe is holding some bread. I sit up from my nest of blankets on the floor and glance about the room. I think there is a bathroom. I get up, they watch.

"Where do think your goin'?" Tsume asks gruffly.

"To what I assume is the bathroom." I close the door behind me. It is a small dingy thing that was once upon a time white. Now the walls are yellow and brown with age and sticky grime. There are cobwebs in the corners, but thankfully no bugs…so far. I rip off the shower curtain, it is way too filthy, and glance at the tub. There are chips along the edge and a thin film of grey dirt covering it. I test the valve, brown water comes out. I will have to wait. In the meantime I clean off as much surface as I can. I look at the towels. They smell of dust, but in general not too bad. I grab them and leave the room.

I look at the pack and lift the towels, "I'm going to get these cleaned off. Leave the water on. I'll be back soon." They actually let me go without making someone come with me. It doesn't take me long to find the washroom and fix up the towels. I can finally take a shower. I run back up the stairs. I think I startled them because I slam the door open, closed, then slam the bathroom door shut as well.

The water looks in better condition now. I change it to a shower, the water is much cleaner. I finally take a good look at myself in the mirror. I look like shit. I have dark bags under my normally bright green eyes and my skin is more pale than usual, which is pretty bad considering I was pretty damn pale to begin with. My short auburn hair looks lank and visibly dirty. I'm glad I have my hat to wear.

The water feels good against my skin. It is very relaxing. I don't know how long I was in there but I can say it must have been a while because the mirror has fogged up. I dry myself as best I can and look at myself in the mirror again. I think I look a little better. Still pale and the bags are still there but my eyes seem to be more awake. More refreshed. I comb through my hair with my fingers, no knots, thank god I have such short hair. Shaggy and only reaching about two inches past my ears, bangs hang in front of my eyes. I shake my head like a dog. Now my hair looks spiky, pointing in all directions, straight in some places, and somewhat curly in others. I place my long sweater over me. Can I only wear this? It is long enough that it reaches mid-thigh and it hangs over my hands if I let it straighten out. I put on my worn jeans as well. I remember there are four males in the other room. I will not show impropriety.

I carefully walk back into the room. They all seem to be in deep conversation, as they recognize my presence the slowly stop talking. I sit down in front of Kiba, legs folded like Buddha. We stare at each other and then he begins his explanation. He knows that is the only thing I want to hear right now.

"First, we must tell you of the legend…from the Book of the Moon." I nod my head and he continues, "It is said, that wolves come from a place called Paradise and that eventually, we will find a way back to Paradise."

Okay, so far so good. Wolves come from Paradise, wolves want to go back to Paradise. Now, what the hell does that have to do with me? Just as I am about to open my mouth Kiba continues. My jaw snaps shut.

"The legend says that the scent of lunar flowers and the Flower Maiden will guide us back to Paradise."

I am now confused…I still don't understand what this has to do with me, "Then why do you need me?"

A gruff voice snorts from the window and with a condescending sneer Tsume looks at me, "How easily you seem to forget. Maybe humans aren't as smart as they think they are."

Then I recall, Kiba told me I smelt of lunar flowers. That's why they followed me all the way…it was beginning to make sense.

"But…I can't be the Flower Maiden, I…don't know where Paradise is."

Once again Tsume scoffs at my apparent 'stupidity', "of course you're not the Flower Maiden, we already know who _she_ is."

"Then why do you need me. If you have her, you don't need me, I can't lead you to Paradise but evidently she _can_. So like I said before…you don't need me. You can leave me alone now. I'm in a city…I think I can take care of myself."

Kiba sighs with what sounded like frustration, he glances up at me through his bangs, "that's not the problem…the problem is that we…lost…Cheza…the Flower Maiden. And we can't find her. We lost her scent."

I nod in understanding. They lost their one way ticket to Paradise. That must suck for them. Unfortunately at this point I am way too tired to give a damn about what happens to these wolves, as cruel as it may sound, I'm pretty sure they don't really give a damn about me either.

Kiba continues, "but we found your scent instead…we thought you were Cheza at first…"

He gets a faraway look in his eye, he seems to care about Cheza a lot…that or he just cares about getting to Paradise a lot.

"Instead, you've been leading us to Cheza."

I think I raised my head too fast. I did not think my neck could crack like that.

"How can I be…leading you to her…if I don't know where I'm going?"

Hige jumps into the conversation now, energetically, "see, that's where you're wrong! You know exactly where you're going! Even all of us could see that, you see, you keep walking in a…well…a particular direction until you feel that for some reason you have to change that. You've been leading us for two days straight, we've noticed it very easily."

He got a thoughtful look on his face, as though he knew he could explain it better…at least…I hoped he could.

"Remember when Toboe asked why you changed directions once. That time when you turned around really fast walked a couple paces back and then went off again randomly. And you just said you had a feeling that going that way would lead you somewhere? Well, that's exactly it. You have a very keen sense of direction, like some humans follow the stars as their guide…you follow Cheza."

That makes a lot more sense, but it still seems very farfetched. How can I lead them to someone I've never met, let alone never seen, Kiba speaks up again, " you're the scent of lunar flowers that will lead us to Paradise…and the one that can open Paradise-"

"Is Cheza," I finish for him. I understand now, I must find Cheza, and after that Cheza can do everything else on her own. I'm just going to be used as their compass. I want to laugh at that. Most compasses point North. I point to Cheza. I don't think I would call that irony, but I would call it…morbidly amusing.

"So, will you help us?"

I glance down at Toboe who is crouched down right beside me. Maybe I should. It wouldn't hurt too bad…I think. I've got nothing else to do and no previous engagements. And I only have to go as far as wherever the hell Cheza is. I nod my head in consent. And almost instantaneously the tension in the room eases up. Hige and Toboe break out in large grins. Kiba nods his head towards me in what I am going to assume is a thank you, while Tsume looks a bit scandalized. As though he expected me to say no… I would have too…curse my soft heart.

They need help and it feels as though I'm one of the only ones that can help them. Perhaps that is my purpose in life, besides art and the piano I'm not good at anything else. Once again, this isn't because I have a low view of myself. I'm just not really great at anything and I am more than willing to admit it. I'm not very book smart, though I love to read, and I wasn't the greatest student ever (my highest score ever being a C…and I was so damn proud of that C too…). What I was good at was…more manual things. Perhaps I'm not the most intelligent person ever, but I do have some pride in my common sense, even though sometimes I lack even in that.

The smell of food once again registers to my brain, and my stomach finds that it has been abused enough so far. The grumble and whine it produces makes me blush. That was loud. They are staring. Finally Hige breaks the silence with uncontrollable laughter. He manages to shove two hotdogs and a chunk of crumbly bread into my hands. I eat slowly and take careful bites. I feel uncomfortable with them watching me as they do. And truthfully, if I decided to pig out the way I really wanted too, I am sure I would choke. Hige, once again, finds the way I eat amusing. Commenting more than once that I eat like a bird and I shouldn't be so shy. Toboe comes to my 'rescue' and says that at least I _have_ manners. But I don't care anymore. Once again I am tired, and sleep calls to me more readily than before. And even though I am in a dingy little room, I am fed and warm. And that is all that matters.

I sluggishly fall to sleep, dreaming about the endless white that I will once again have to lead these wolves across.


End file.
